Straw Poll. How much food do you have in reserve? How well do you stock rotate?

[Frnc]

Koka noodles. Box of 30 for about £13-18. Not the healthiest food, but tasty and only needs hot water. I've tried vegetable and mushroom flavours, just ordered some spicy stir fry, which are also vegetarian. Vegetable are the most expensive at about £18 at the moment, the other two are about £13

What is shelf life like on those? Happy to eat well past BB dates but just getting an idea before considering buying online …

About 15 months on the two lots I've had so far.

[jennyjj01]

Koka noodles. Box of 30 for about £13-18. Not the healthiest food, but tasty and only needs hot water. I've tried vegetable and mushroom flavours, just ordered some spicy stir fry, which are also vegetarian. Vegetable are the most expensive at about £18 at the moment, the other two are about £13

What is shelf life like on those? Happy to eat well past BB dates but just getting an idea before considering buying online …

About 15 months on the two lots I've had so far.

My understanding is that stated and real life shelf life of noodles is on par with dried pasta. cool dry place etc.

[mcprepper]

Decent date, make sense, thanks both.

[Adjee]

All the replies on this thread to date relate to stored food but what about live food reserves?

Thinking laterally, to point out a couple, what about the rabbits kept for breeding a meat/fur/animal feed supply? The chickens/quail etc. for food/eggs? All these need considering and taking into account when assessing food stores/reserves.

[GillyBee]

I wish!. I am in a London maisonette with a small garden. The tenancy bans keeping poultry and with the fox population averaging 1 per garden I would need to turn the whole garden into a cage to protect rabbits. We have found pet remains on the lawn before now thanks to the foxes. I do grow & preserve some fruit & veg and would force the rest of the family to sacrifice the lawn for more if necessary. Hence, for the bulk of my supplies I am limited to what I can buy.

[Nurseandy]

I grow veg including perennials and we have a couple of established apple trees but tbh it wouldn't keep us going for long and would also be dependent on timing. I could shoot a couple of hares and the odd pheasant and there's a good few deer around but everyone will also be thinking the same and things have got pretty bad if we're resorting to poaching to feed the family.

[Frnc]

Wild edible plants are worth a look. Nearly half the common plants are edible, to some degree or other. The most obvious one is nettles - very common and easy to ID. They won't substitute a block of cheese, but they are nutritious. Rich in iron,vitamin C and protein. Eat young fresh tops before they flower. Most wild edibles aren't high in carbs, but some are. Obviously you have to be careful with ID, especially the carrot family.

Fishing is worth a try. I have various survival fishing gear, ie not legal for normal use, which has to be done with a rod. I have a hobo reel, automatic fishers and speedhooks. Also a net trap. The state of our rivers is bad though, even in normal times. There are also ponds, lakes and canals.

In theory I could shoot ducks and geese, but I only have a catapault at the moment. Bow and arrows would do it.

[Frnc]

Wild edible plants are worth a look. Nearly half the common plants are edible, to some degree or other. The most obvious one is nettles - very common and easy to ID. They won't substitute a block of cheese, but they are nutritious. Rich in iron,vitamin C and protein. Eat young fresh tops before they flower. Most wild edibles aren't high in carbs, but some are. Obviously you have to be careful with ID, especially the carrot family.

Fishing is worth a try. I have various survival fishing gear, ie not legal for normal use, which has to be done with a rod. I have a hobo reel, automatic fishers and speedhooks. Also a net trap. The state of our rivers is bad though, even in normal times. There are also ponds, lakes and canals.

In theory I could shoot ducks and geese, but I only have a catapault at the moment. Bow and arrows would do it.

There are loads of farmers' fields nearby, but I'm not sure what they grow. I can't easily harvest grains, and some of it is just grass.

[ForgeCorvus]

Wild edible plants are worth a look. Nearly half the common plants are edible, to some degree or other. The most obvious one is nettles - very common and easy to ID. They won't substitute a block of cheese, but they are nutritious. Rich in iron,vitamin C and protein. Eat young fresh tops before they flower. Most wild edibles aren't high in carbs, but some are. Obviously you have to be careful with ID, especially the carrot family.

Fishing is worth a try. I have various survival fishing gear, ie not legal for normal use, which has to be done with a rod. I have a hobo reel, automatic fishers and speedhooks. Also a net trap. The state of our rivers is bad though, even in normal times. There are also ponds, lakes and canals.

In theory I could shoot ducks and geese, but I only have a catapault at the moment. Bow and arrows would do it.

There are loads of farmers' fields nearby, but I'm not sure what they grow. I can't easily harvest grains, and some of it is just grass.

Bow hunting is also a no-no in this country...... But in a pure survival situation, all bets are off

[Adjee]

In theory I could shoot ducks and geese, but I only have a catapault at the moment. Bow and arrows would do it.

With a slingshot and a 10/12 mm BB you can take down pheasants/ducks/squirrels etc. with no problem (subject to to being an accurate shot of course) much more reliable method of hunting than using snares/traps etc.